San Jose Sharks fed up with Vancouver Canucks' whining

SAN JOSE -- The San Jose Sharks fired back at the Vancouver Canucks and defenseman Kevin Bieksa on Tuesday, turning the question of integrity against their first-round playoff opponents.

"If we go back to look at the series, we've been called cheaters after Game 1, we've been called embellishing Canadians after Game 3," said Sharks coach Todd McLellan, whose team leads the series three games to none. "If the series goes any deeper, we may even be accused of biting eventually."

McLellan said he wasn't offended by Bieksa's comments Monday, which were made against Logan Couture and Joe Thornton.

Neither Couture nor Thornton took Bieksa's bait, but Sharks forward Adam Burish did address the allegations. And like McLellan, he focused on the source of the comments.

"I guess if I was him, while I was up on the soap box and trying to save the integrity of the game and all that stuff, I might swing by player No. 14 and player No. 17," Burish said, a reference to forwards Alexandre Burrows and Ryan Kesler.

"I'd swing by their stalls," Burish continued, "and have a little talk with them about diving and intergrity, that kind of thing. Then he can work his way over to our room."

Bieksa accused Couture of throwing his head back to exaggerate the impact of a hit to the head by Henrik Sedin, and said Thornton took his glove off to try and draw more attention to slashing call.

That was the charge against Burrows when he faced the Boston Bruins in the 2011 Stanley Cup finals, a series McLellan also indirectly alluded to earlier without mentioning the Canucks by name.

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"They use that word embellish, but I haven't heard that in a while," McLellan said. "In fact, I think it was in vogue a couple of springs ago."

The comments came after the Sharks completed their morning skate as they try to complete a series sweep Tuesday night at HP Pavilion.